Farm groups saved Bayer in court over RoundUp cancer claims. Five days later, Bayer called for tariffs on the ingredient farmers rely on

Bayer has picked a fight with some of its most important customers: U.S. farmers.

The German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company isn’t supplying them aspirin—they’re a lead company that develops agricultural technology that farmers rely on. Now the company is at the receiving end of ire from farm groups after asking the federal government to slap import duties on Chinese-made glyphosate, a key ingredient in weedkiller Roundup, because it’s allegedly being dumped in the U.S. and sold below “fair value.”

Farm groups, some of which helped Bayer defend Roundup in front of the Supreme Court in late June, say the move throws already financially squeezed farmers under the bus. A recent Texas A&M study found that the types of duties Bayer is seeking already cost crop growers $6.9 billion from 2021 to 2025, though a Bayer spokesperson told Fortune that the move was intended to protect farmers.

“The domestic glyphosate business as it stands today is not sustainable,” the spokesperson told Fortune over email. “This action is needed to support long-term U.S. production for American farmers.”

Farmers helped Bayer with RoundUp, and then Bayer blew them off

Bayer secured a favorable Supreme Court ruling that let the company off the hook for a wave of state lawsuits claiming it failed to warn users the weedkiller could cause cancer. Bayer CEO Bill Anderson called it a win that “provides the regulatory clarity necessary for innovators like us to develop the agricultural tools that guarantee an affordable........

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